Kim Yo Jong slams Seoul’s claims over border loudspeakers as “fabricated”

North Korea has pushed back sharply against claims from Seoul that it dismantled some of its propaganda loudspeakers along the heavily fortified border, with Kim Yo Jong — the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un — dismissing the reports as “fabricated” and politically motivated.

In a statement carried by state media on Thursday, Kim said South Korea’s military announcement was nothing more than an “unfounded unilateral supposition and a red herring”.

“We have never removed loudspeakers installed on the border area and are not willing to remove them,” she insisted.

She accused Seoul of trying to manipulate public opinion while “embellishing their new policy” towards the North, suggesting that South Korea’s strategy was aimed at either provoking a reaction or appearing to make peace efforts while shifting blame for tensions onto Pyongyang.

“That trick is a pipedream and does not arouse our interest at all,” Kim said. “Whether the ROK withdraws its loudspeakers or not, stops broadcasting or not, postpones its military exercises or not and downscales them or not, we do not care about them.”

Calling Seoul’s approach a “shabby, deceptive farce,” Kim said North Korea had no intention of responding to what she framed as political theatre.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, in a response quoted by local outlets, avoided addressing Kim’s accusations directly, but reaffirmed its goal of working toward the “normalisation” and “stabilisation” of inter-Korean relations.

The exchange came days after South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Pyongyang had removed some of its border loudspeakers shortly after Seoul took down its own.

Since the inauguration of President Lee Jae-myung in June, Seoul has been attempting to reset ties with its northern neighbour following years of heightened tensions. But Kim Yo Jong, who plays a key role in North Korea’s propaganda apparatus, has repeatedly dismissed those overtures, calling them naive and misguided.

Last month, she said there was no “more serious miscalculation” than thinking ties could be repaired with “a few sentimental words.”

In her latest remarks, she also mocked South Korean media speculation that Pyongyang might use the upcoming Trump–Putin summit to relay a message to Washington.